Department for Transport

Electric Scooters: Safety Measures

lord greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether people riding electric and unpowered scooters on the highway are required to display front and rear lights on the same basis as cyclists; and if not, what consideration they are giving to introducing such a requirement.

baroness vere of norbiton: Ministers have recently agreed a range of technical and safety requirements for electric scooters used during trials on Great Britain’s roads. The scooters used in the trials must be fitted with a front position lamp and a red rear position lamp. In addition, they must be fitted with a red rear reflector and amber or white reflectors on each side of the vehicle. There are no similar lighting requirements for unpowered scooters, and there are no plans to review this position.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

New Businesses: Remote Working

baroness bennett of manor castle: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to assist and support new small independent businesses to start up to cater for the needs of the increasing numbers of home workersacross the UK.

lord callanan: In the context of supporting employers during Coronavirus as the economy reopens, from 1 August Government will give employers more discretion on how their employees carry out their roles. We would expect employers and employees to discuss their working arrangements and the best way that roles can be carried out safely. Working from home is one way to do this, but workplaces can also be made COVID-secure using Government guidance if employers wish their workforce to return to the workplace. Regarding wider support for new businesses who wish to start up, or existing businesses wishing to scale up, all advice, guidance – including employee support, tools to identify the right finance, and checklists for setting up the business in line with regulations – is provided nationally on the gov.uk website, via the government-backed British Business Bank (BBB) online Finance Hub and in England through the network of 38 government-backed growth hubs. In England, small and medium-sized businesses that are adversely affected by coronavirus will have access to grants of between £1,000 - £5,000 (typical grant £3,000) to help them access new technology and other equipment as well as professional, legal, financial or other advice to help them get back on track. This will be available through the existing network of growth hubs, or where there is no growth hub in the area, via an existing ERDF business support provider.

Department of Health and Social Care

Social Services: Fees and Charges

baroness gale: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether their long-term plan for social care in England will focus on (1) whole system reform, or (2) protecting people from having to sell their homes to pay for care.

lord bethell: We recognise there is a need for long-term reform in social care. Therefore, we are reviewing options and have invited cross-party talks to find the best solutions to these complex questions. We will put forward a plan following those talks.

Social Services

lord turnberg: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the proposed White Paper on social care will address the case for social care to be closely integrated with the NHS, as has been achieved in some areas like Salford.

lord bethell: Promoting integrated care is a priority for the Government and the recent NHS Long Term Plan highlighted integration of services as a key aim - making sure that everyone can receive high quality care that is coordinated around their individual needs.Putting social care on a sustainable footing, where everyone is treated with dignity and respect, is one of the biggest challenges that our society faces. There are complex questions to address, to which we want to give our full considerations in light of the current circumstances.

Care Homes: Coronavirus

lord warner: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bethell on15 June (HL4726), whether the COVID-19 Hospital Discharge Service Requirements authorised NHS Trusts to make incentive payments to care homes to admit patients discharged from acute hospitals, irrespective of whether they posed an infection risk to other residents in the care homes; and whether such payments are permissible.

lord bethell: It is our priority to ensure that everyone is discharged safely from hospital and to the most appropriate available place.Funding announced alongside the COVID-19 Hospital Discharge Service Requirements was not conditional on care homes accepting discharged patients. Discharges from hospital are decided by local clinicians and only happen when doctors determine it is in an individual patient’s best interests.This is an unprecedented global pandemic and at every stage we have been guided by the latest scientific advice. We keep our policies under continuous review, based on the emerging international and domestic evidence.

Exercise Cygnus

baroness ritchie of downpatrick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what cross-Government discussions they have had about implementingthe recommendations of Exercise Cygnus.

lord bethell: Learning the lessons from preparedness exercises, as well as other sources of expertise, has ensured that the United Kingdom remains well prepared for infectious disease outbreaks.The Department continues to work across Government and with a range of stakeholders, such as local planners and expert advisory groups, to implement the lessons learned from Exercise Cygnus. These lessons learned have informed our preparedness, such as through development of draft legislation to support the response to a future influenza pandemic and strengthening health sector plans to surge and flex beyond normal operations.

Preventive Medicine: Screening

lord empey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to extend preventative health care testing.

lord bethell: The UK National Screening Committee advises Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries on all aspects of screening and routinely considers new conditions when evidence becomes available or when proposed through its annual call for topics. The annual call runs from September to December and allows members of the public and stakeholders to submit new conditions for the UK National Screening Committee to consider and assess against internationally recognised criteria.

Coronavirus: Genetics

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that a nomenclature system for the genetic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 is in place.

lord bethell: Public Health England is not the body that defines the nomenclature system for the genetic diversity of viruses. This is undertaken by the international scientific community.

Care Homes: Coronavirus

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic more than 4,000 people were discharged from hospital into care homes without being tested forthe virus.

lord bethell: Throughout our COVID-19 response we have worked with the care sector and public health experts to put in place measures to reduce transmission and save lives. It has been our priority to ensure that everyone is discharged safely from hospital and to the most appropriate available place. Wherever possible, people who are clinically ready should be supported to return to their place of residence, where assessment of longer-term needs will take place. This approach follows the ‘Discharge to Assess’ model, to support timely and appropriate discharge from hospital.The Hospital Discharge Service and staff should clarify with care homes the COVID-19 status of an individual and any COVID-19 symptoms, during the process of transfer from a hospital to the care home. As testing capacity was being built priority for testing was given to the most clinically vulnerable patients:- all patients in critical care for pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) or flu like illness;- all other patients requiring admission to hospital for pneumonia, ARDS or flu like illness; and- where an outbreak has occurred in a residential or care setting, for example long-term care facility or prisons.As set out in the Adult Social Care Action Plan on 15 April, all patients are now required to be tested prior to discharge to a care home.

Pestfix: Protective Clothing

lord strasburger: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to Question for Written Answer HL5806, tabled on 16 June and due for answer on 30 June, how many contracts they have entered into with Pestfix Ltd; on what dates those contracts were entered into; and when they will publish the contract award notices.

lord bethell: The Department has awarded 11 contracts to PestFix Ltd. One Contract Award Notice has been published which shows that the contract was awarded on 13 April 2020. The other Contract Award Notices will be published shortly. These will contain the dates of the contract award which, as with all the information to be published, is subject to a validation process.

Food: Hygiene

lord storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bethell on 17 July (HL6182), what is their expected timeframe for introducing the necessary legislation to extend the mandatory display of ratings to England.

lord bethell: The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is operated by the Food Standards Agency in partnership with local authorities across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.We will consider whether mandatory display of ratings should be introduced in England in due course.

Coronavirus: Ethnic Groups

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the study by researchers from the Universities of Birmingham and Manchester on the impact of social determinants of health on patients with SARS-COV-2 infection in Birmingham, published on 19 July; in particular its finding thatair pollution may have contributed to the impact of COVID-19 on BAME individuals.

lord bethell: Following the publication of the Public Health England review into the risks and outcomes of COVID-19 in June, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities (Kemi Badenoch MP) is leading work to better understand the key drivers of the disparities identified and the relationships between the different risk factors.Poor air quality is the largest environmental risk to public health in the United Kingdom and the Government is taking robust action to improve air quality and minimise public health impacts, as laid out in the Clean Air Strategy.We are committed to improving our understanding of the possible links between air quality and COVID-19, to inform policy development. This will be supported by the recent National Institute for Health Research and UK Research and Innovation call for research proposals to investigate emerging evidence of an association between ethnicity and COVID-19 incidence and adverse health outcomes. The Department of Health and Social Care continues to have extensive discussions with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and other departments on the relationship between health and air quality.

Obesity: Children

lord brooke of alverthorpe: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to implement (1) the proposals contained in Childhood obesity: a plan for action - Chapter 2, published in June 2018, and (2) the recommendations relating to childhood obesity outlined in the Green Paper Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s, published in July 2019.

lord brooke of alverthorpe: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to reports of the disproportionate impact COVID-19 has on people living with obesity, what plans they have to develop a campaign to encourage people to make healthy choices; with whom they have engaged on the development of any such plans; and whether they intend to publish those plans.

lord bethell: We published Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives on 27 July. The strategy demonstrates an overarching campaign to reduce obesity, takes forward actions from previous chapters of the childhood obesity plan and sets our measures to get the nation fit and healthy, protect against COVID-19 and protect the National Health Service. In addition, Public Health England has launched the Better Health campaign, which will call on people to embrace a healthier lifestyle and to lose weight if they need to, supported by a range of evidence-based tools and apps providing advice on how to reduce the waistline. A copy of Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives is attached.



Tackling obesity strategy
(PDF Document, 277.33 KB)

Obesity: Coronavirus

lord brooke of alverthorpe: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish the evidence that informed their decision to include people with a BMI over 40 on the list of those most at risk of worse outcomes from COVID-19; and why people with a BMI lower than 40 who are overweight or obese were not in included in that category.

lord bethell: Having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 40 or above is not one of the specific medical conditions that expert doctors in England identified as placing someone at greatest risk of severe illness from COVID-19 (clinically extremely vulnerable) and requiring them to shield. It is, however, one of the health conditions identified as putting someone at a higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 (clinically vulnerable). Those with BMI over 40 were eligible for a free influenza vaccination last winter, and that is the basis for including them in the clinically vulnerable cohort.

Public Health: Finance

lord rennard: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for increasing public health funding in the light of the COVID-19 crisis; and whether future statements to Parliament on COVID-19 will address any such increase of that funding.

lord bethell: The public health grant to local authorities is £3.279 billion in 2020-21. This is in addition to what the National Health Service spends on public health, which included over £1.3 billion in 2019-20 on national public health programmes such as immunisations and screening.The Government has also provided £4.3 billion of additional funding for local government to help them respond to COVID-19 pressures across the services they deliver. Local authorities will take spending decisions based on local priorities, and the Government is keeping the position under review. Funding beyond 2020-21 will be set out at the next spending review.

Smoking: Health Education

lord rennard: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase funding forpubliceducation campaigns about smoking in order (1) to encourage people who have quit smoking during the COVID-19 lockdown to remain smoke-free, and (2) to motivate people to quit smoking in comingmonths.

lord bethell: The Government has committed £70,000 to support the ‘Today is the Day’ campaign which is targeted at localities with high smoking prevalence. Public Health England’s annual Stoptober campaign will be held in October 2020 and will take account of the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Smoking: Pregnancy

lord rennard: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further tothe data included inStatistics on Women's Smoking Status at Time of Delivery: England Quarter 4, 2019–20, published on 7 July, what assessment they have made of Greater Manchester’s Smokefree Pregnancy programme; and what plans they have to implement a national smoke-free pregnancy incentives programme along the lines of that programme.

lord bethell: The Government has a track record of reducing the harms caused by tobacco and is committed to achieving its ambition to reduce the rate of smoking in pregnancy to 6% or less by 2022.The Government is aware of the work undertaken in Greater Manchester, although we have not made a formal assessment of it. The programme will be considered by officials when exploring further ways that we can protect babies and their parents from the consequences of smoking in pregnancy.

Continuing Care: Coronavirus

baroness gale: To ask Her Majesty's Government what monitoring and evaluation they have undertaken to ascertain the compliance of NHS continuing healthcare (1) virtual assessments, and (2) associated services, delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic with (a) the national framework for NHS continuing healthcare, and (b) relevant legislation.

baroness gale: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to produce guidance on monitoring and evaluating the quality of virtual NHS continuing healthcare assessments.

baroness gale: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that virtual NHS continuing healthcare assessments are compliant with the Equality Act 2010 reasonable adjustments duty.

lord bethell: During the COVID-19 emergency period, National Health Service Continuing Healthcare (CHC) assessments have not been required due to changes made under section 14 of the Coronavirus Act 2020. Where CHC assessments have continued during the emergency period, these must be compliant with the NHS Commissioning Board and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) Regulations 2012 and the CHC National Framework.CCGs may use a number of approaches to arrange Multidisciplinary Team assessments, including video conference. Preferences for how these are carried out should be indicated by the individual being assessed or their representatives.To ensure the delivery of high-quality assessments, local assurance processes should be in place. There is also a detailed review process for eligibility decisions if an individual is dissatisfied with the outcome.

Obesity: Digital Technology

lord fox: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their obesity strategy which recommends the use of digital technologies for the monitoring of weight loss and lifestyle improvements, what steps they will take to protect personal data collected by fitness trackers and apps.

lord bethell: Public Health England (PHE) digital products complete a Data Protection Impact Assessment. This assessment is reviewed by their Data Protection Officers prior to launch to ensure the processing complies with the requirements of data protection law. ​PHE stores information such as weight, age, sex and ethnic group in the Weight Loss App but PHE does not store any personally identifiable information.On Monday 27 July, PHE launched an adult health campaign, ‘Better Health’, encouraging adults to kick start their health by losing weight, eating better and getting active.The campaign directs people to a variety of free tools and apps including the 12-week NHS Weight Loss Plan, Couch to 5k, Active10 and Easy Meals. These tools were reviewed ahead of the campaign launch and approved by PHE Data Protection Officers.

Department for International Trade

Southern Africa: Trade Agreements

lord oates: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many of the parties to the UK-SACU Economic Partnership Agreement have ratified that Agreement.

lord oates: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many parties to the UK-SACU Economic Partnership Agreement they expect to have ratified that Agreement by 1 December.

lord oates: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they haveto allow provisional application of the UK-SACU Economic Partnership Agreement if the parties to that Agreement have not ratified it in time for it to come into force on 1 January 2021.

lord grimstone of boscobel: As of 4th August 2020, Botswana and South Africa have completed their domestic ratification procedures. Britain completed her own domestic scrutiny procedures, in accordance with the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act, on 5th February 2020. We continue to monitor progress closely in the remaining countries. Our preference is that all our Southern Africa Customs Union + Mozambique Economic Partnership Agreement partners ratify the agreement, so that it can enter into force at the end of the transition period. Nevertheless, we will consider all possible options to maintain continuity, including provisional application, if not every partner is able to ratify the agreement before the end of the transition period.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Public Lavatories: Coronavirus

baroness randerson: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they last updated the guidance to local authorities and other providers of public toilets on additional hygiene precautions required during theCOVID-19pandemic; what organisations they consulted before drafting that guidance; and where that guidance is publicly available.

lord greenhalgh: Government has made clear through COVID-19 guidance that public toilets, portable toilets and toilets inside premises should be kept open and carefully managed to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19. To support this, Government, with input from Public Health England, has produced guidance principles on the additional hygiene precautions that should be considered to effectively manage public toilet provision and help everyone maintain good hygiene during the COVID-19 pandemic. Suggested measures include using signs to promote good hand hygiene, providing suitable handwashing and hand drying facilities, and increasing the frequency of cleaning of facilities.These principles were included in The  Safer Public Places - Urban Centres and Green Spaces guidance on 26 June for the owners and operators of public spaces as well as other COVID-19 Secure guidance such as Working Safely during Coronavirus. These are published on gov.uk. In addition, on 28 June, I wrote jointly with the Environment Minister to local authorities setting out the Government’s position that public toilets should be open wherever possible. This letter included advice on COVID-19 secure measures.As the situation is constantly evolving, we will keep guidance under review to ensure it provides the information needed.

Local Government Finance: Coronavirus

baroness verma: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to allow local authorities to use the remaining funds allocated to support businesses at the start of the COVID-19 lockdown to support businesses that are facing second or local lockdowns.

lord greenhalgh: The Government has always been clear that underspend from the initial grants schemes for businesses could not be used for other purposes.Once all grant monies have been paid out, local authorities will need to carry out a reconciliation exercise with Government to ensure that they receive the correct amount of funding to meet the cost of grant payments to eligible businesses.Ministers will continue to consider the need for further responses to second or local lockdowns, recognising that significant support has already been provided to businesses through grants, loans and easements.

Roma Holocaust Memorial Day

baroness whitaker: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they planto mark Roma Holocaust Memorial Day on 2 August.

lord greenhalgh: Every year we honour the memory of the Roma and Sinti population murdered by the Nazi's at the annual Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations on 27 January. The 2nd of August marked the liquidation of the Gypsy Family camp' at Auschwitz-Birkenau and this year due to the restrictions on gatherings brought about by the Covid 19 pandemic I honoured the memory of the Roma and Sinti men, women and children murdered by the Nazi's by releasing a short film on social media.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

lord foster of bath: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish details (1)of all consultations relating to, and (2) in regard to the operation of, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

lord greenhalgh: The Government has committed to creating the UK Shared Prosperity Fund as the successor to EU structural funds. The fund will bind together the whole of the United Kingdom, tackling inequality and deprivation in each of our four nations. The Government recognises the importance of providing clarity on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Government officials have held 25 engagement events across the UK, attended by over 500 representatives from a breadth of sectors, which has helped inform progress on policy design. The Government looks forward to continuing to work closely with partners as we develop the fund. Final decisions on the allocation of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund will be taken after a cross-government Spending Review.

Local Government: Lancashire

lord greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with councillors and officers (1) of Lancashire County Council, (2) of Blackpool Borough Council, (3) of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, and (4) of Lancashire District Councilssince 1 January, on matters relating to proposals for (a) a combined authority, (b) an elected mayor, and (c) reorganisation of local government structures; and what advice they have given to each of those Councils.

lord greenhalgh: There have been a number of discussions between councils across the Lancashire area and Ministers and officials about possible local government reforms. The government has set out a clear commitment to level up all areas of the country by empowering our regions through devolving money, resources and control away from Westminster, and will set out its detailed plans in the Devolution and Local Recovery White Paper that will be published this Autumn.

Local Government: Reorganisation

lord greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government what advice they have given to local authorities in counties which have both a county council and county districts on (1) the desirability, (2) the criteria, and (3) the preferred timescale, for reorganisation of local government in those areas.

lord greenhalgh: The Government has set out a clear commitment to level up all areas of the country by empowering our regions through devolving money, resources and control away from Westminster, and will set out its detailed plans in the Devolution and Local Recovery White Paper that will be published this Autumn.The Government believes that areas moving to unitary status with more sustainable and efficient councils can have significant benefits for local people and businesses; and a number of councils have requested from the Secretary of State a formal invitation to submit proposals for unitary local government.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Flood Control: Yorkshire and the Humber

lord greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the written answer by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park on 20 July (HL6513), whether (1) the funding allocated for shovel-ready schemes will include the planned work at Earby and the phase 3 scheme at Wentcliffe Beck, and (2) the planned stakeholder roundtable on flood defence schemes will include representatives from Earby.

lord goldsmith of richmond park: The work at Earby (phase 2) will be going ahead subject to full business case approval which the Environment Agency hopes to submit by the end of the year. Additional funding allocated for shovel ready schemes was not required for Earby (phase 2) as it does not have any funding gaps based upon current costs estimates, identified partner contributions and the Government’s updated partnership funding rules. Wentcliffe Beck (phase 3) was not allocated funding as it will not be ready to start construction by the required deadline. However the Environment Agency continues to progress the development of the scheme. We are continuing to work on preparations for a Yorkshire roundtable to discuss the response to the November 2019 flooding. The invitation list will depend on the size of event we are able to arrange. Officials were working to identify a date for this before the Covid-19 restrictions came into effect. In the event that we are not able to hold an in-person meeting, we will make alternative arrangements as soon as possible.

Wines: Imports

lord moynihan: To ask Her Majesty's Government to list the laboratories accredited to provide analysis for consignments of EU wine over 100 litres brought into the UK from 1 January 2021.

lord moynihan: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to require that all consignments of EU wine over 100 litres brought into the UK from 1 January 2021 are accompanied by both a stamp from a 'competent authority' and an analysis from an accredited laboratory; and, if so, to define what is a 'competent authority' in the context of EU VI-1 forms.

lord moynihan: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have estimated costs for the laboratory tests required to import EU wine into the UK from 1 January 2021.

lord goldsmith of richmond park: The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 retains the existing requirements for consignments of third country wine, consisting of 100 litres and over, to be accompanied by a VI-1 document. This will apply to wine from EU Member States from 1 January 2021. Along with consignments of less than 100 litres, other exemptions include personal imports or wine intended for trade shows. It is the responsibility of the exporting country to provide the details of its designated competent authority and authorised laboratories. As VI-1 analysis is required to be carried out by the country of origin prior to wine entering Great Britain, we have not made any estimated cost for this analysis.

Wines: Imports

lord moynihan: To ask Her Majesty's Government what (1) labelling requirements, (2) tariffs, (3) reimbursements, and (4) processes, will be required for importing EU wine into Northern Ireland from 1 January 2021.

lord goldsmith of richmond park: From 1 January 2021, EU labelling and marketing standards for wine will apply in Northern Ireland under the NI Protocol. Her Majesty’s Government intends to achieve a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the EU by December 2020 that will clarify the situation for tariffs and reimbursements. The Political Declaration aims for the agreement to be a zero tariff and zero quota FTA and we are working hard to achieve this.

Royal Botanic Gardens Kew: Coronavirus

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what financial support they planto give to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kewto help it to address any deficit arisingas a result of the restrictions put in place to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

lord gardiner of kimble: Defra has regular meetings with Kew Gardens about the impacts of the Covid-19 outbreak. There are significant impacts on Kew’s operations and finances, mainly as a result of having to close the Kew and Wakehurst Place sites to the public for a period during lockdown, and a staggered return to full operations is anticipated through 2020/21. Kew has reopened to the public under a carefully planned approach and is now able to generate visitor income as a result, although at a significantly lower level than would normally be anticipated. The operational facilities are being kept under review with a view to maximising visitor access within social distancing guidelines. Kew has taken financial mitigation measures to offset in part the loss of income, including reducing costs, postponing investment plans and use of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Under optimistic scenario planning of steady growth in visitor numbers and associated income and no second lockdown or related restrictions, Kew’s in-year operating deficit would result in a 25% reduction in total income for 2020/21, which will be funded by Kew drawing down its unrestricted reserves. We continue to work with Kew to monitor the situation and assess any future challenges.

London Power Tunnels

baroness jones of moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Align,Hydrogeological and Surface Water Risk Assessment for Load Test Piling Location 2, approved in January 2019, and, in particular, its conclusion that there are no historic sources of contamination present at the London Power Tunnels phase 2 construction site, despite it being 500 metres away from a Contaminated Land Special Site.

lord goldsmith of richmond park: The Environment Agency (EA) has reviewed the Align Report on Hydrogeological and Surface Water Risk Assessment for Load Test Piling Location 2. This report examines activities associated with HS2 and does not reference the ‘London Power Tunnels phase 2 construction site’, which is a different project south of the river Thames unrelated to HS2.With respect to the report, the EA is in agreement that there are no historical sources of contamination present at the Load Test Piling Location 2 site. The report does highlight that there are historical sources of contamination present in the wider area of this site, and low-level hydrocarbon contamination was present in groundwater within both the chalk and overlying superficial deposits across the Colne Valley.

Home Office

British National (Overseas): Hong Kong

lord empey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prepare to accommodate British National (Overseas) passport holders from Hong Kong; and where such passport holders will be accommodated.

lord empey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the devolved administrations about their plans to offer a route to British citizenship to British National (Overseas) passport holders from Hong Kong.

baroness williams of trafford: The Home Secretary was pleased to recently announce details of the new immigration route for Hong Kong British National (Overseas) citizens, which can be found at:www.gov.uk/government/publications/hong-kong-bno-visa-policy-statement/hong-kong-british-national-overseas-visa-policy-statement-plain-text-versionThis is a special bespoke set of arrangements, developed for the unique circumstances we face and in light of our historic commitment to the people of Hong Kong.British National (Overseas) citizens who choose to come to the UK will need to be self-sufficient and will be able to work in the UK.Recognising this new immigration route applies across the Union, Home Office officials, with support from the Territorial Offices, have already begun engaging with the Devolved Administrations. This engagement has kept the Devolved Administrations informed of the policy as it develops, which will enable them to co-ordinate the most effective response for their respective regions.

Domestic Abuse: Coronavirus

baroness helic: To ask Her Majesty's Government how manywomen have been killed in the UK as a result of suspected domestic violencein the period in which restrictions have been in place to address the COVID-19 pandemic; and how that number compares to the number ofsuch deathsin the same period in 2019.

baroness williams of trafford: Homicide investigations can take some time for the police to complete and official statistics relating to the period since 23 March 2020 will be published by the Office for National Statistics in February 2021.As policing is a devolved matter, the Home Office does not hold comparable information for Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Espionage: Russia

lord foulkes of cumnock: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan tointroduce legislation to strengthen their ability to deal with (1) espionage, and (2) illegal behaviour,in the UK by (a) the government of Russia, and (b) people associated with that government.

baroness williams of trafford: In the Queen’s Speech we committed to introduce legislation to provide the security services and law enforcement agencies with the tools they need to disrupt hostile activity by foreign states. The Home Office is considering several measures for introduction via new primary legislation to make the UK a harder environment for adversaries to operate in.

Cabinet Office

Common Travel Area

lord empey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the legal status of the common travel area between the UK, the Crown Dependencies and Ireland.

lord empey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what mechanism exists to resolve disputes between the UK Government and the government of Ireland over the operation of the common travel area.

lord empey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what, if any, disputes have arisen between the UK Government and the government of Ireland over the operation of the common travel area.

lord empey: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether a UK citizen has ever taken legal action against the UK Government over the operation of the common travel area.

lord true: The Common Travel Area (CTA) is an arrangement between the UK, the Isle of Man, Guernsey, Jersey, and Ireland. It is underpinned by domestic law in each jurisdiction.Both the UK and Irish Governments have committed to taking all necessary measures to ensure that the Common Travel Area and its associated rights and privileges are protected and maintained, including entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on 8 May 2019. We are not aware of any significant disputes that have arisen between the UK Government and Ireland over the operation of the Common Travel Area, nor of cases when a UK citizen has taken legal action against the UK Government over the operation of the Common Travel Area.

Government Departments: Facebook

lord clement-jones: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the total spent by Government departments on Facebook advertising in the past year; and whether they have plans to join a boycott of major advertisers pending Facebook’s change of policy on hate speech and disinformation.

lord true: The UK Government is a significant advertiser on Facebook. Social media platforms enable departments and agencies to connect with citizens and businesses to communicate about important policies and help drive behaviour change, including in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Government is in correspondence with Facebook seeking reassurances and action on various points. Individual departments are responsible for their own advertising expenditure delivered in line with a centrally agreed approach coordinated by the Cabinet Office.

Ministerial Policy Advisers: Parliamentary Scrutiny

lord roberts of llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that anyone appointed to advise them about their policies can be scrutinised by Parliament.

lord true: Ministers are accountable to Parliament for the policies, decisions and actions of their departments and agencies, as set out in the Ministerial Code. As has long been the case, advisers advise but ministers decide and are accountable for those decisions.

Treasury

Wines: Imports

lord moynihan: To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made, if any, on developing a new IT system for pre-lodgement for the wine trade to assist movement through roll-on roll-off portsafter 31 December.

lord agnew of oulton: HMRC’s IT delivery of the Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) is expected to be ready from January 2021.

Taxation: Electronic Government

lord west of spithead: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact ofthe Making Tax Digital programmeon the productivity of the self-employed.

lord agnew of oulton: The Government expects the Making Tax Digital programme to have a positive impact on the productivity of self-employed businesses, as set out in the Financial Secretary to the Treasury’s written ministerial statement on 21 July (HCWS400) and HMRC and HM Treasury’s publication “Building a trusted, modern tax administration” of the same date.About 1.4 million businesses, some of whom are self-employed, have already joined Making Tax Digital (MTD) for their VAT affairs and many of these are already experiencing productivity gains associated with more digital ways of working, as set out in HMRC’s Evaluation of the MTD for VAT service published in March. The Enterprise Research Centre (2018) found that for micro-businesses, web-based accounting software delivered productivity increases of over 10%.

Working Hours

baroness bennett of manor castle: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to encourage and support firms in reducing working hours in an equitable manner while avoiding redundancies, on a model similar to the German Kurzarbeit scheme.

lord agnew of oulton: The Government is committed to ensuring that people are able to return to work in a manner that is sustainable and adjustable to the reopening of the economy. The Government therefore introduced flexible furloughing from 1 July. Firms can now bring back employees that have been furloughed for any amount of time and any shift pattern, while still being able to claim Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme grants for the hours not worked, with no minimum furlough period. It is right that state support is slowly reduced and the focus shifts to getting furloughed employees back to work. As such, from August 2020, the level of the grant will be slowly tapered to reflect that people will be returning to work. Employees will continue to receive 80% of wages up to a cap of £2,500 when furloughed.While other countries have announced similar schemes, the UK response remains among the most comprehensive.

Taxation: Self-assessment

baroness kennedy of cradley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the size of the tax return backlog; and when they estimate to complete processing those returns.

lord agnew of oulton: HMRC currently have 57,000 2019-20 Self-Assessment tax returns on hand and aim to process 99% of these by the end of December; this is in line with previous years.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

baroness ritchie of downpatrick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had, and with whom, aboutthe effect of the withdrawal of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme on those with protected characteristics.

lord agnew of oulton: In making decisions about the withdrawal of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, HM Treasury worked closely with key stakeholders, including business representatives, and other Government departments.HM Treasury considers the equality impacts of individual policies on those with protected characteristics carefully and consistently, in line with both its legal obligations and its strong commitment to equality; and there are internal procedural requirements and support in place for ensuring that such considerations inform decisions taken by Ministers.

Revenue and Customs: Finance

baroness randerson: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their announcement on 12 June of an additional £50 million being made available for customs agent recruitment, training and IT, what that money is intended to cover; and what assessment they have made of the statement bythe Road Haulage Association that the amount of money allocated is insufficient.

lord agnew of oulton: The Government has already injected £34 million into growing the intermediary sector, in order to encompass EU trade after 2020. Thousands of agents, freight forwarders and parcel operators have taken advantage of this funding to make improvements, from IT hardware to staff training. To date, this funding has supported over 20,000 training courses, nearly 15,000 units of IT, the recruitment of an additional 600 new customs agents, and the online customs academy training centre (where Government has procured training capacity directly) which has delivered 1,139 courses so far. The new £50 million support package will further boost the capacity of the customs intermediary sector to help provide businesses with support ahead of the new processes taking effect in July 2021. Having listened to industry feedback, the focus of support will continue to be on IT, recruitment, and training. This new investment will provide a significant boost to the sector and build on the success of the grant scheme to date. This additional funding is one element of the wider package of measures announced in June to help lay the foundations for a diverse, innovative and competitive intermediary sector. The Government also intends to change rules which will remove the financial liability from intermediaries operating on behalf of their clients, and allow parcel operators to continue declaring multiple consignments in a single customs declaration.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Gendered Intelligence

lord lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role Gendered Intelligence plays in filtering communications sent via (1) social media, or (2) web forms, in response to their campaigns.

baroness barran: No specific assessment has been made. Gendered Intelligence are an independent charity and the government has no part to play in reviewing whether or not they filter the responses to their campaigns.

Music: Coronavirus

lord storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of allowing amateur musical groups the same outdoor and indoor rehearsal opportunities as professional musical groups.

baroness barran: The Government continues to advise that non-professional groups should not sing and play wind and brass instruments at this stage and should only do other activities in line with government guidance on social mixing. Singing and playing wind and brass instruments are considered higher risk activities because of the potential for aerosol production. We understand that people are eager to play brass/wind instruments and sing together, which is why we have commissioned a study specifically looking at C-19 transmission risks associated with singing and playing wind instruments. The PERFORM study involves leading scientists and is working with musicians and representatives from the Royal Opera House and the BBC. Results of further research conducted will lead to updates of the performing arts guidance for both professionals and non-professionals.